Princess Mononoke

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind was a good film, but not my all time favorite. This film was next on my list of movies to watch from my friend. As stated before, I've only heard of this movie, but never seen it. It seemed like an interesting film, but I never got the chance to see. Well, I finally did and it was a really great film, blood and all.

The story tells of a man named Ashitaka, who was sent from his village to find the Deer god to remove a curse that was placed on his arm by a demon god. His journey takes him to a village where a woman has settled to build iron to create guns. While there, he is introduced to Mononoke, a princess of a wolf tribe, where she was raised by the wolves. There, he helps them stop the woman from trying to take the Deer god's head to take to the emperor. It has a novelty value of being a very memorable film for it's story structure and characters. However, it does go back into giving us the message that humans are destroying the forests and need to stop them. It is done a little subtler this time with the animals believing that they need to resort to violence to stop them from destroying the forests. The messages doesn't really seem to get in the way of main story plot, which I think is pretty good.

The music is done again by Joe Hisaishi, who does another great job of giving a great musical score. The action material could've had a little more oomph, especially with the score mixing being a mixed bag with some great sound by the violins, but not so much of the brass players. Still, a wonderful musical piece.

The characters are definitely interesting, especially Mononoke. It astounds me, however, when Mononoke has her name in the title, yet the plot doesn't revolve much around her. She's still pretty good, but it amazes me how she has taken the Ashitaka very well and speaking the same language as he is. I was usually expecting her to kind of warm up to him, be like an animal, then have her become more human. The fact that she's human but claims to be wolf is a little weird. Ashitaka is another interesting character with some good intentions. However, I was hoping for maybe a romantic relationship and actually have them kiss, since the movie is implying it to us. Instead, they seem to go separate ways and forgot anything that has happened to them before in the end. The villain, again, is hard to depict to either hate or love. She has evil motivations, yet she seems good-hearted and as soon as the movie ends, she becomes good, and again, without any reason to do so.

The animation is top notch with some great design in creatures, locations, and so on. I think it's definitely the strong point for Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki.

Overall, I think it's one of the few best Hayao Miyazaki films out there. I know that I mentioned by general grudge against the environmental messages, but as I said, I have nothing against that, but when people start saying that mankind has caused pollution and destroying forests, all I have to say is "You tell me something I don't know." To put it mildly, it's messages are blunt and should be more subtle about it. However, that's not to say its a bad film. It's wonderful animation, characters, and music give it the novelty value of being a real classic. My only hope is that I won't get burned down by environmentalists.

Prince Ashitaka is the last of the Imishii people. When he gets into a battle with the great boar demon, Nago, he is left with a demon mark on his arm that will eat his body alive and devour his soul in the process. Now, he is forced to go to the Forest Spirit, and beg for this demon mark to be cured. There, he meets the princess of the forest, San. They endure through the battle of the forest and whether it should live on or not.
This is a great animated movie from director,producer, and storywriter Hayao Miyazaki.He has really done an amazing job with this movie.5 out of 5 for Studio Ghibli